


The Nights We Fight About It

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [86]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-04
Updated: 2013-08-04
Packaged: 2017-12-22 11:19:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We’ll never see each other again, just two ships passing in the night.  I’ll wake up in a cold sweat years from now, the whisper of the name Emily coming from my lips as the shadowy memories slip back into my subconscious.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Nights We Fight About It

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe where the BAU are kids and teens. I didn’t want Emily and Ian to meet in this universe but I don’t always get a say. The whole thing has a bit more angst than I thought I would write when I started it but when the story tells itself you just have to follow. The title comes from the Bad English song, Price of Love, which is so Jason and Emily.

“Hey,” Jason poked his head into her bathroom door. “Can we talk for a second?”

“Sure.” Emily was looking in the mirror applying lip gloss. She looked at her boyfriend’s reflection. “What's up?”

“Are you really sure you want to wear that tonight? The nights are starting to get chilly.”

“Yeah they are but I'm really hoping we’re not going to be on the line that long. I think Mike is on the door tonight and he always hooks us up.”

“I don’t want you to wear that.” Jason spoke in a low tone but then cleared his throat.

“Huh?” she turned from the mirror holding the tube of lip gloss.

“You shouldn’t go out dressed like that tonight, Emily. Girls with boyfriends don’t go to clubs dressed like that.”

“Are you serious? Girls, single or otherwise, dress however they want.”

“Well I don’t like it.” Jason said.

“I don’t care.” She shook her head and went back to the mirror. She needed to put on her mascara.

“You don’t have to be rude about it. I didn’t know that my feelings meant so little to you.”

“You don’t get to tell me how to dress, Jason. That was never part of our relationship and it never will be.”

“Some guy is gonna hit on you…a lot of guys probably will. What if they take it too far?”

“I can handle myself and I’ll be surrounded by friends. I hope you haven’t deluded yourself into thinking that guys only hit on me when I wear mini dresses.”

“I'm putting my foot down.” Jason stomped it for emphasis. “You are not wearing that tonight.”

Emily kept a straight face as she looked at him again, though she had no idea how. She knew Jason well enough to know when he was angry. His eyes were dark; his whole face was. But he was teetering on thin ice. She was torn between laughing, which would’ve been bad, and slapping him across the face. 

That would’ve been worse. Something was boiling inside her. Emily hardly knew what it was. She and Jason had fought before…their relationship wasn’t perfect. This wasn’t what she had in mind for her pre-party performance.

“I'm leaving Jason. You're not going to make me late.”

“What if I don’t let you?” he stood in the bathroom doorway with his arms crossed. Jason stood at his full six feet. Emily was only about 5’7 or so.

“Let me? Oh you have got to be fuckin kidding me.” She rolled her eyes. “Do you plan to keep me here by force, Jason? Are you going to hold me down even when I scream for you to yell and stop? Is that going to make you feel like a man?”

“How could you say something like that to me?” Jason asked. His facial expression changed to show his sadness and disgust.

“I'm leaving.”

Emily pushed past him and out of the bathroom. Hotch was waiting downstairs for her but when he saw the look on her face he didn’t say anything about her outfit. He thought she looked amazing…his sister was a beautiful girl. But there was little doubt that the purple mini dress, similar to Daphne’s in _Scooby Doo_ , and black leather boots would have every buzzard in a frat tee shirt circling her like dinner. He was going to have to be on extra alert tonight. Hotch was thankful that Megan wouldn’t be joining them as well. He wouldn’t have gotten a moment’s rest.

“We need to get the hell out of here.” Emily went into the living room closet for her purple faux chinchilla jacket, a sweet 16 gift from Lindsay.

“Don’t you want to…?”

“We’re going Aaron.”

He knew when she called him by her given name that Emily meant business. He double checked his peacoat pocket for his car keys and then followed her out the door. Tonight they were meeting the gang at a place called Medusa. The gang was Zoe, Coop, Jonny, Vickie, and Russ Goldman. The club wasn’t a dive, which they usually preferred. 

This crowd was mostly douchebag college kids, that’s the way Megan described them when Hotch told her that’s where they were going. There would be plenty of drugs, drinks, and surely Cure music. There were probably five million places that he’d rather be tonight but Hotch went where Emily went. That was his job as her brother.

“What's wrong?” he opened the door of their Mustang for her.

“Nothing.” Emily shook her head when he got into the car.

“I don’t believe that.”

“Fine, then do you believe that I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yeah.” Hotch nodded. She’d been fine all evening, looking forward to going out. Now something completely different was happening. “Can you make me a promise?”

“What?” Emily gave him a steely gaze as he pulled out of the parking space.

“Promise me that you won't get totally wasted tonight. Promise me that I won't have to hold your hair while you puke next to some smelly dumpster that you can't smell because you're puking. Promise me that you won't have a vicious hangover in the morning, which you blame me for because I didn’t make you promise me things.”

“Sure, I promise.”

“Prentiss…can you say it with feeling please?”

“I promise Hotch.” She crossed her heart for emphasis. “Was that enough damn feeling for you?”

“I give it a 7 out of 10.” He replied.

“I hate you sometimes.”

“Yeah, I love you too.”

When Hotch smiled as he glanced at her, his dimples emerged in full force. It was impossible not to respond in kind to that phenomena. Then Emily punched him in the arm.

***

“Guinness.” He leaned on the bar, taking a moment to look her up and down. “And a refill on the ladies’ drink.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” She said.

“I enjoy sometimes doing things I don’t have to.”

“It’s the dress, isn’t it? I've been beating off the creeps all night.”

“You must be exhausted.” He grinned. “This place is filled with creeps. Good music though.”

“Something like that.”

“It’s not the dress.” He shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, the dress is hot. But it’s not the dress.”

“OK.” Emily nodded, slightly intrigued. He was probably lying but there was something about the way he said it.

“One Guinness.” The bartender put down the beer. “And one Penny Lane.”

“Thanks.” Emily sipped it to make sure it was right.

“What the hell is a Penny Lane?”

“It’s um, tropical fruit punch, vodka, champagne, and a splash of grenadine. It’s pretty but one too many can knock you on your ass.”

“You should get that on a tee shirt.” He held out his hand. “I'm Ian.”

“Hi.” Emily shook his hand.

“I didn’t catch your name.” he drank his beer.

“I didn’t give it.”

“Well it’s lovely to meet you. Shall I just call you give it?”

“You can call me Emily.”

“Beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Are you from around here?”

“Yes, and I have a boyfriend and I didn’t come here tonight to be picked up.” She showed him her moonstone ring. 

Even though she wished she had smacked a bat across his kneecaps tonight, Jason was still her boyfriend. And telling a guy he was about to play in another guy’s sandbox usually got him to walk away faster than just asking him politely to. Emily got a slightly different vibe from Ian though. Firstly he was drinking real beer and he wasn’t a frat boy by any stretch. He had to be in his mid-20s, if not a little older. He stood out in the crowd while not looking out of place completely.

“I'm just talking; no pickups I promise. Have you ever seen the sun rise over Belfast? You look like the kind of girl who has the urge to travel in her blood.”

“Are you from Belfast?” 

“I am.” He nodded. “The accent turns you on, doesn’t it?”

“It’s OK…it’s cute.”

“You're cute. Is that tosser your boyfriend?” Ian tilted his head toward the booth across the room.

Emily looked over at Hotch. Despite the crowd, he was only focused on two people. She could see him like poised, almost like a puma in waiting. He wasn’t sure if he should jump up and say something, put a stop to the shenanigans, or wait until he had a reason to go in for the kill. She turned away from him and back to Ian.

“That’s my brother. How did you get to DC from Belfast?”

“Aer Lingus.” Ian replied.

“A wicked sense of humor, check.” She drank her Penny Lane. “I've never seen you here before. I mean, this isn’t my favorite place but I've been here a few times.”

“It’s not one of my usual haunts but I'm always around. Whatever you need, I can get it for you.”

“I'm good thanks.” Emily nodded. Aha, so he was that guy. Why wasn’t she surprised? Why was she still intrigued? Those guys usually did nothing for her. Ian Doyle had to be just a little bit more.

“It would be nice if you went out with me.”

“I have a boyfriend, remember?”

“Right.” He snapped his fingers. “We can be friends. Do you want to be friends, Emily?”

“You don’t seem like the type that has friends.” She said.

“Ouch.” He put his hand over his heart and then grinned.

“I didn’t mean it that way. You have associates, people who know you or want to know you. But you're the lone wolf type. It’s easier to get it done and get the hell out of there if you don’t have to keep looking behind you for loved ones.”

“Lone wolf,” Ian nodded. “I like that. One thing I do know is that wolves know other wolves well. It’s a sensory thing.”

“Yeah,” she slid off the barstool. “We do. I should probably go. I'm supposed to be here having a good night with my friends. They’re over there chomping at the bit.”

“So this is it?” he asked. “We’ll never see each other again, just two ships passing in the night. I’ll wake up in a cold sweat years from now, the whisper of the name Emily coming from my lips as the shadowy memories slip back into my subconscious.”

Emily laughed. She put her hand on his chest, he wore a black button down shirt, and just laughed. The sound of her delight made Ian smile. He took the opportunity of being touched to touch. His hand fell gently on Emily’s shoulder.

“I'm around.” She said. “I'm not always here but I'm sure we’ll see each other again. No shadowy memories or sweat-induced dreams.”

“You have no idea what a comfort that is.” Ian said.

“Thanks for the drink.” She held up her Penny Lane.

“You're welcome.”

He watched her walk away. When Emily turned to see him, Ian fanned himself. She smiled as she made her way back to her booth.

“Em, do you know that guy?” Zoe asked. Her boyfriend Evan, a friend of Jason’s, was giving Ian the same look that Hotch was.

“That’s Ian.”

“So you know him?” Coop asked.

“I do now.”

“You go girl.” Vickie high-fived her before dragging Jonny out of the floor for _This Charming Man_. “He's a hottie.”

“He also has a very sexy but slightly dangerous Northern Irish accent.” Emily said.

“Ooh, he has an accent?” Zoe asked.

“I'm not hearing this.” Hotch covered his ears.

“What is it with women and the UK accents?” Evan asked.

“I haven’t decided if it’s James Bond or Doctor Who.” Emily replied. “I just love it.”

“We hear it and immediately think of big adventures.” Zoe said.

“British dudes aren't the only ones who can give a girl big adventures.” Coop said.

“That’s a lot of thought put into one accent.” Hotch said.

“Women tend to think with bigger heads than our male counterparts.” Emily said. “It’s a scientific fact. Isn’t it Evan?”

“Most of the time, yes.” The Georgetown junior nodded.

“Have it your way.” Hotch said. “By the way, you're flagged.”

“Aww c'mon, just two more drinks. I promise, just two more. Be a pal, Hotch, be a bro.”

“Just two.” He held up two fingers. “And they're gonna be beers. If you have two more Penny Lanes, you'll be on your ass.”

“I know…aren't they fabulous? Why are we just sitting around chattering?” Emily jumped up from the booth. She grabbed Zoe, who was on one side of her, and Russ who was on the other. “Let’s party, guys! Eric Cooper, lets party! Woo!”

“Don’t say my name so loud Prentiss, geez.” Coop got out of the booth to hit the dance floor. “A guy has to have some mystery in his persona.”

Hotch looked after her as she danced and partied with her friends. He didn’t know what to say or do. Talking to a guy in a bar wasn’t against the law or anything. Even flirting with a guy in a bar wasn’t horrible. But he knew something happened with Jason before they left home tonight. 

Emily was clearly upset and might have wanted to get back at him. Hotch couldn’t let her make a big mistake. Something in him wanted to tell Jason…he wanted to fix things. That probably wouldn’t fix things though, just cause more strife. He knew his best friend could be both insecure and jealous. 

Jason was only human. Emily was human as well. She was pretty and smart and attracted people sometimes like moths to a flame. Nothing about her conversation with Ian was bad, even if Hotch didn’t like it. There were some things that really just needed to stay in the moment. Ian the Northern Irish accent guy was probably one of them.

***

The nights were getting colder, October was nearly over. Emily didn’t care about the weather. She was always comfortable outside and tonight was no different. She sat on the back porch just thinking. With her pajama pants, Emily wore wool socks and another sweatshirt that she’d stolen from Hotch.

This one was for the Michigan Wolverines. She was drunk off three Penny Lanes and two Miller High Lifes. That last beer took her over the edge from happy buzz to contemplative, depressing intoxication. Emily tried to pretend that it hadn’t but she really was pretending. After they dropped off Coop, Hotch dropped Emily at their home. Megan should’ve been back from the party her mother dragged her to and he was going to spend the night with his girlfriend.

“ _What happened tonight?” he asked as he pulled in front of their house and put on his blinkers._

_“Nothing. I was just blowing off steam. It wasn’t different from any other night partying with friends. There's no law against that.”_

_“I never said that there was. You're only defensive when you’re keeping something.”_

_“Well aren't you Columbo?”_

_“I'm not talking about what happened at the club.” Hotch ignored her sass. “I'm talking about before we even left the house. Something happened.”_

_“Jason and I had a fight.” Emily replied._

_“I don’t want to butt in…”_

_“Then don’t. It was stupid, Hotch. He said something really dumb, then I did, and then I walked away from him.”_

_“Is that why you were flirting with that Ian guy?” Hotch asked._

_“Ian has nothing to do with this. I wasn’t flirting, I was having a conversation. I'm someone’s girlfriend so I'm not allowed to talk to anyone else with a cock? Seriously, this is ridiculous. I wasn’t talking to Ian to make Jason jealous. He wasn’t even there for fuck’s sake.”_

_“I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”_

_“Whatever.”_

_“Are you OK?”_

_“Mmm hmm,” she lied and nodded._

_“Are you sure?”_

_“I just need to sleep it off. Goodnight, Hotch.”_

_“Goodnight.”_

_She leaned over, kissed his cheek, and got out of the car_.

Jason was sound asleep, or at least pretending to be, when she checked his bedroom. Emily wanted to wake him. She wanted to talk but didn’t quite know what to say. A long time ago she and Jason promised that they would never argue, make love, or do anything that affected their relationship while one or the other was intoxicated. 

So she let him be, checked on the kids, and then went out back. Emily didn’t know how long she’d been out there. Not that it mattered since time was of little consequence on the weekend. She lit her second clove and sighed.

“It’s late.” Jason said as he stepped out on the back porch. The cold air slapped him but his flannel windbreaker protected him.

“I can't sleep.” She didn’t look at him.

“Are you drunk?”

“Why would you ask me that? Why is it even important?”

“I'm not saying that it’s important but if you're intoxicated then we probably shouldn’t talk.”

“Then don’t talk to me.” Emily took a deep inhale of her clove. “I just don’t care right now, Jason.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. Jason just stood there looking at her out of his peripheral vision. He didn’t want to fight with her; it made his stomach hurt. It was natural, no couple was perfect, but this was his fault. Jason started it and he needed to make it right.

“I don't know if it means anything but I am so sorry. I have no idea what made me think I had a right to tell you what you can and can't wear. You looked amazing tonight. The thought of some guy hitting on you in some dive bar makes my blood boil. Still, that’s not your problem Em. It’s my problem.”

“Medusa isn’t a dive bar.” She said. “I got hit on tonight…I get hit on every time I go out. I talked to a few guys and met a very interesting one. But all I did was talk. I have a boyfriend; I don’t go out to make your blood boil. I go out to have fun. I'm not going to stop doing that so if it’s going to be a point of contention every time I’ll draw the battle lines and dig in my heels.”

“Aren't you even sorry about what you said to me earlier?” Jason asked.

“What if I'm not?” Emily looked at him as she blew out a puff of smoke. “If I'm not, then what?”

“I don't know.” He dropped his arms at his sides. “Goodnight, Emily.”

“I guess you get to walk away now. It’s only fair considering.”

“What in the…?” Jason stopped. He took a deep breath and held his temper. Another fight wasn’t something that either one of them wanted. He wasn’t sure if it was the best idea he ever had but he went over to where she was sitting on the porch swing. Jason sat down beside her.

“I'm not going to walk away.” He said. “I know how it felt when you did it earlier and I don’t want to keep repeating those actions and reactions over and over.”

“You pissed me off.” She still didn’t look at him.

“I know.” He nodded. “What you said really hurt me. I started it, I know that and admit it, but there has to be deal breakers. Any suggestion that I would ever hold you by force even after you say no…that’s a deal breaker.”

“I regret saying it no matter how much you upset me.”

“Katya…”

“Can we not?” Emily finally looked into his eyes. “I want to talk. I want to forgive each other; kiss and make up. I just can't right now. Too much is going on in my mind.”

“What happened tonight?” Jason asked.

“I met a guy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just met a guy Jason.” She said. “He was funny and nice and a little bit rough around the edges. I talked to him; he bought me a drink. Nothing happened but why should I feel guilty about that. Why should I feel bad for talking to people? 

“I know you're a homebody and you have every right to be. I can be too but sometimes I just want to go out, dance, and meet new people. I shouldn’t feel like I'm cheating when I do that. I shouldn’t feel like I'm a bad person because I'm fascinated by people.”

“No, you shouldn’t.” he shook his head.

“His name was Ian. He made me laugh.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I don't know.” Emily shrugged. “Don’t I always tell you when I meet someone? Why should Ian be different? If I kept him to myself then it would be something that it wasn’t. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes. I'm going back to bed. Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” The word rang hollow in her ears just like the ‘mmm hmm’ she gave Hotch earlier. 

She was drunk, feeling bad, but had no idea why. Maybe things would be clearer tomorrow or Monday. Maybe she’d get lucky and Jason would decide to file this under something never spoken of again. Emily knew she wanted to.

“Can I kiss your cheek goodnight?” he asked.

“Of course you can. How about another deal breaker? No matter how bad it gets, we always kiss each other goodnight.”

“It’s a deal.” Jason kissed her cheek. “I love you, Katya.” 

“I love you too.”

Jason got up from the porch swing. He was nearly at the door when Emily’s voice stopped him.

“When I get my head together, can I sleep with you?”

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Can we just go to sleep? Can we forget tonight and just start all over again tomorrow?”

“Are you alright?”

“I don't know.” Emily shook her head. “I was good, then I was faltering, and now I feel all the way down.”

He didn’t think now was a good time to mention that alcohol was a downer. Especially since this was probably his fault. Emily was fine and happy before he went busting into her bathroom with his stupid jealous boy problems.

“Just come to bed now.” Jason held out his hand. “If you don’t want to OK, but if you do then know that I'm going to hold you. I’ll hold you and love you and it might not make it better but I will try my best.”

Emily nodded. She took one last puff of her clove, put it out in the ashtray, and stood up from the swing. When she took Jason’s hand the warmth made her exhale. Jason slid his fingers between hers.

“Alcohol is a downer. I'm so glad that Hotch flagged me.”

“Me too. And I'm sorry that I was an ass tonight. I'm so sorry. I know you want to forget tonight but I can't until I say that.”

“It wasn’t a shining moment for me either.” Emily said. “I hate when we fight.”

“We can't promise that we’ll never do it again.” Jason said as they went into the house.

“We can promise to always have amazing make-ups. We’ll start tomorrow…when I'm sober.”

She put her arm around Jason and just held on. They’d hit a hurdle, maybe tripped and fell. That didn’t mean that she had to just lie down. There had been good moments tonight and Emily would focus on them. 

She would focus on her family tomorrow. She would call a friend and maybe vent a little. She would hug Hotch as soon as he got home. Bad days were allowed, even when they messed everything up because they were supposed to be good. There was still one day left in her precious weekend and Emily Prentiss planned to live it to the fullest.

***


End file.
